DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
In claim 4, lines 1 and 2, applicant claims “the panel member includes a partition”. It appears from the specification that the panel member itself is the partition and the partition is not separate from the panel. In paragraph 0024, of the Specification applicant states, “the panel member 22 acts as a partition”. It is suggested the phrase be changed to “the panel member acts as a partition” and claim 4 has been treated on the merits below in accordance with this suggestion.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sviberg et al. (US Patent 12,600,415) in view of Kim (US Patent Application Publication 2016/0129839).
Re claims 1 and 3, Sviberg et al. discloses a roof module coupled to a roof frame of a vehicle, the roof module comprising a panel member (24, figure 2), a sensor unit (16, figure 2) arranged towards an outer side of the vehicle from the panel member, a sensor cover (the housing portion of 12, figure 2) covering the sensor unit, a unit (28) arranged towards an inner side of the vehicle from the panel member, wherein the sensor cover is adjacent to a windshield (108, figure 2) of the vehicle, and the sensor cover includes a surface that is flush with a surface of the windshield (see the annotated figure below).
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Sviberg does not disclose the unit being a lamp unit, and an inner cover covering the lamp unit, the inner cover including a though hole.
Kim teaches an interior roof unit being a lamp unit (124) and an inner cover (111, 113) that covers the lamp unit, the inner cover including a though hole (the hole in 111 to which 113 is mounted and which holds the lamp).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the earliest effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify a roof module, such as that disclosed by Sviberg et al., to have the unit be a lamp unit, an inner cover covering the lamp unit, and the inner cover including a though hole, as taught by Kim, with a reasonable expectation of success, in order to provide the common convenience of interior lighting to the vehicle.
Re claim 2, Sviberg further discloses the sensor cover (the housing of 12) is adjacent to a roof panel (portion of the roof panel surround the housing) of the vehicle, and the surface of the sensor cover is flush with a surface of the roof panel (the housing of 12 is flush with the rest of the roof 12 as the two parts are made in one piece).
Re claim 4, Sviberg further discloses the panel member includes a partition (24) which separates the sensor unit (16, figure 2) and the unit (28).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The cited references all disclose vehicle roof or sensor constructions.
US Patent Application Publication 2025/0222879 (Isings et al.) discloses a sensor module adjacent a vehicle windshield.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jason S Morrow whose telephone number is (571)272-6663. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m..
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/JASON S MORROW/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3612
September 26, 2026
